Socially and Environmentally Responsible Retirement Plans a Growing Trend

Published in Portsmouth Patch

By Jim Cavan

During the 18 months between October 2007 and March 2009, millions of Americans – many of those at or near retirement age – watched helplessly as the growing financial crisis ate into their pensions and retirement funds.

By late 2009, state pension funds alone had contracted as much as $1.2 trillion dollars, throwing into even higher relief a financial collapse that had affected just about every sector of the economy.

The chief culprits, of course, are now all too familiar. In particular, investment firms with money tied to mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps, and other complex financial instruments, had suddenly found their own balance sheets immersed in red.

Read the full story on the Portsmouth Patch.

From run-down to regenerated: Simply Green springs up park with rain garden

Published in Seacoast Online

By Jim Cavan

When Simply Green turned an abandoned Route 1 Toyota dealership into a thriving green-oriented business campus — aptly named Regeneration Park — it recognized one of the biggest challenges would be figuring out what to do with the expansive, worn-down parking lot.

Joel Bobbett and the rest of the Simply Green team knew they wanted whatever measure they took to be in keeping with Regeneration Park's impressive green ethos, which already included myriad recycled materials, efficient lighting and heating, and other measures.

It was getting from here to there that posed the real challenge...

To read the full story on Seacoast Online, click here!

Redhook, museum team up

Published in Portsmouth Herald

Written by Aaron Sanborn

EXETER-  Beer lovers will have the chance to toast history this summer with a special brew made in honor of the town's American Independence Museum.

The Redhook Brewery has created the American Independence Ale as part of its regional "Brewery Backyard Series."

American Independence Ale will be available on tap only throughout New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine this summer and early fall beginning on Memorial Day weekend.

To read more visit: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120420-BIZ-204200421?cid=sitesearch

Socially and environmentally responsible retirement plans a growing trend

Published in SeacoastOnline.com

By Jim Cavan

During the 18 months between October 2007 and March 2009, millions of Americans – many of those at or near retirement age – watched helplessly as the growing financial crisis ate into their pensions and retirement funds.

By late 2009, state pension funds alone had contracted as much as $1.2 trillion dollars, throwing into even higher relief a financial collapse that had affected just about every sector of the economy.

The chief culprits, of course, are now all too familiar. In particular, investment firms with money tied to mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps, and other complex financial instruments, had suddenly found their own balance sheets immersed in red.

As such, it was inevitable that pension and retirement plans – both public and private – would eventually bare an undue brunt of the overall financial system’s faulty wiring.

Now, pension and retirement fund planners are beginning to look to alternatives that are not only safer, but also speak more accruately to a company’s social and environmental values.

For the complete story, view here!

Green Energy store provides products, education

Published in Fosters

By Jim Cavan

SEABROOK — It's hard to imagine an industry spoken of in more futuristic, 21st century terms than renewable energy.

Indeed, given the enormous leaps -- in terms of both efficacy and affordability -- made by solar, wind, geothermal, and other green-driven technologies in recent years, the descriptions would seem fitting. But ask Jack Haritas, co-owner of the Seabrook-based Atlantic Green Energy, and he'll tell you the ideas and concepts are as tried and true and rooted in old-fashioned American ingenuity as it gets.

To read the full story in Fosters, visit here!

Bicycle Sawp Set at Downtown Shop

Published in Portsmouth Herald

Written by Becky Holt

PORTSMOUTH- The fourth annual Seacoast Bike Swap hosted by Papa Wheelies on Islington Street will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 15.

The event allows residents to sell their old bikes, receive a credit toward store merchandise or service, and contribute to a number of charitable causes. The swap is being led by store manager Josh Pierce.

"Four years ago, with the recession really hitting home, we wanted to help folks unload their pre-owned bikes," Pierce says, adding residents with older bikes can bring the to the store by Saturday, April 14.

To read more visit: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120412-NEWS-204120409

Community says a goodbye as South Church cuts tree

Published in the Portsmouth Herald

Written by Charles McMahon

PORTSMOUTH — The removal of the 90-year-old European copper beech tree at South Church on Thursday prompted tears and fond farewells from community members who lined the sidewalk on State Street to watch as workers trimmed the historic tree all the way to its trunk.

A crew from Cornerstone Tree Care showed up at South Church early in the day to prepare for the tree's removal. A crane was brought in, and a police detail was present as part of Church Street was closed down.

The European copper beech tree's fate had been the subject of controversy in recent weeks. Residents rallied to dissuade church officials from having the tree removed, creating an online petition and adorning the tree and the area around it with signs and flowers in support of saving the tree.

To read more, visit Portsmouth Herald.

Trip to India A Decade in The Making for Yoga Studio Owner

Published in the Exeter Patch and Seacoast Online

Written by Jim Cavan

Spending a month in a foreign country – diving headlong into the more ethereal aspects of its history, culture, and traditions – would understandably impart a kind of culture shock in most.

Lona Kovacs felt it much more coming home.

Kovacs, owner of Green Lotus Yoga Studio in Dover, recently returned stateside after a five-week trip to India. Spending most of her time in the southern Province of Mysore, Kovacs immersed herself fully in the various accoutrement of Ashtanga, a yogic tradition rooted in some of India’s most ancient texts.

Read the full story in the Exeter Patch and Seacoast Online